Saturday, February 25, 2017

Five Must-Do Items on my Apoca-list

I've been watching, and loving,  No Tomorrow on Netflix. The show's main premise revolves around one (very attractive) man's theory that a giant asteroid will destroy Earth in just over eight months. The two main characters each make lists of things they want to do before the asteroid induced apocalypse. These lists are cleverly called "apoca-list".

If I knew I only had eight months left on Earth, here are my top five apoca-list items:

1. Visit and tour Ireland.

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I want to see the big cities and the small, quaint towns. I want to hit the tourist hotspots and see some sleepy green spaces. I want to sit in the pubs and let the locals talk at me. I want the full Irish experience for about ten days.

2. Move to the Pacific Northwest, preferably to Hood River, Oregon.

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Don't get me wrong. I love Austin, my adopted hometown for the vast majority of my life. However, I don't love Austin's punishingly hot and dry summers. I prefer the rainy, temperate climate of the Pacific Northwest. I love hiking amongst tall trees and kayaking on calm freshwater lakes and rivers. I want to live somewhere that isn't so ridiculously crowded as Austin.

3. Spend as much time as possible with Chad and our pets.

They are my favorite beings on the planet. Depending on which religious leader one asks, cats and dogs may or may not go to Heaven. So I need to enjoy the pets' company on Earth, just in case.

4. See the Perseid meteor shower one more time from a rural area.

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In the U.S.A. peak viewing tends to be near mid-August. Chad and I saw the Perseid meteor shower one year while vacationing in Hood River, and it was amazing. With just our eyes (no telescopes), we saw many meteors trailing across the sky like giant sparklers.

5. Eat a chocolate-covered peanut butter cup.

Ever since my cursed peanut allergy reared its itchy, ugly head, I miss peanut butter real bad. If I knew I wouldn't be around to break out into hives, I'd totally enjoy some peanut butter at the last minute.

I had a difficult time coming up with five items, because I've enjoyed lots of different experiences in life so far. I'm no daredevil, but I try to do things often that scare me a little, or that challenge me. I've snorkeled in a cenote in Mexico, been in the front row of a Broadway show, worked to help cast a Broadway show, been all over Italy, toured London, sung in public (lots), done a backflip off the high dive, hiked to the top of Multnomah Falls, snowskied, waterskied, explored Manhattan by myself bravely, been in a one-woman show on stage, been a featured extra in an Emmy award winning television show, been a featured extra in an Emmy award winning HBO movie, created sidewalk-traffic-stopping window displays for retail stores, spent a few nights in a reportedly haunted hotel, and bottle-fed motherless kittens and puppies in the middle of the night. I'm proud of making the most of opportunities I've been privileged to have. I appreciate my experiences greatly.

My one big thing I still want to accomplish is to be a published author (beyond this blog, innumerable press releases and website marketing copy that I've written). This will certainly take more than eight months, which is why I didn't include it on my apoca-list.

What's on your apoca-list? What's keeping you from doing those things?